Acceleration of The Bus and Other Feelings
by Alexandra7
Summary: A bold kid falls in love.


**HEY GAAAAANG guess I'm 26 now and still writing Hey Arnold fanfiction. Seems good! Normal things. Just bein' an adult. To be real though, I'm definitely fan girling right now due to news of the movie. I grew up with this ish! I WAS IN FOURTH GRADE LEGIT when Hey Arnold went down. So excited. Anyway, here's a dumb little one shot of how I imagined Arnold would fall in love with Helga, and realize it.**

He had been sitting towards the back of the bus. Not the immediate back because he remembers the way he had felt vulnerable as she boarded at the front. He was in clear sight of her. Suspense filled him in the two seconds it took to recognize her. Would she approach him? He slinked down low in his seat. Or worse, would she ignore him? He rose back up, trying to fill the space he occupied with as much of his wide head as possible.

It was no use. The bus was crowded. She seemed to know this already as she entered, not even bothering to look up from her book. Her arm slinked around the railing behind the yellow line. She leaned against the bar as she anonymously joined the group of already standing passengers. Still frowning into her book, she swayed back and forth in the acceleration of the bus. Her new ponytailed hair arced gracefully at the crown of her head, punctuated with her bow. Always.

Arnold held his breath as he observed her, observing her book. He decided she looked older than she should. Were twelve year olds supposed to blend into a group of adults that effortlessly? She had been maturing (nothing going unnoticed by him, of course), and she was limbs more than anything, but the expression she wore somehow made her even taller. She was so serious looking. What was she reading? She could have been ancient in her concentration. He wanted to break it.

But someone next to her did. Another boy he hadn't noticed until now had been languidly peering at the girl as he sat next to her. He was tall with dark hair and brown eyes. He had risen and was trying to offer her his seat. He gestured towards the open space, and Arnold, whose brain was working in overdrive, had been anticipating a reaction from her in which she curtly declined the offering and went back to frowning at her book. Instead she surprised him.

Helga took the seat, smiling up at the strange boy politely, a slight blush gracing her cheeks (Arnold's eyebrows arched and lips pouted as he felt something twinge in his stomach) before returning her attention back to her book.

Arnold watched the boy watching Helga who observed her book. The boy looked like he wanted to say something more, but struggled to interrupt the girl's concentration. His mouth opened and he swayed backwards as the bus pulled to a stop, and the boy turned to exit with a few other passengers. Helga didn't look up. Outside the bus, the boy's eyes followed Helga through the window as it drove forward until he was out of sight.

Feeling tense, Arnold sat back in his seat and tried to relax.

Two bus stops later, an elderly woman had shuffled aboard the bus with a cane. She was carrying a bag full of apples. Arnold recognized her as a regular customer from Mrs. Vitello's flower shop. Before he could discern anything else about the bus's new passenger, he was distracted as Helga had suddenly jumped up, her ponytail bouncing.

Arnold edged forward on his seat, his hand coming out to grasp clumsily at the seat in front of him.

She grabbed at one of the swaying bus handles overhead and smiled sweetly at the old woman, still clutching her book in the other hand. Things moved in slow motion while Arnold watched in astonishment.

 _No_ , he thought _…she couldn't be...she isn't…_

"Do you want my seat?" her voice sang over the bus's engine.

 _This is not happening_. Arnold felt his heartbeat quicken.

"Thank you, my dear," the woman smiled as she slowly lowered herself into the newly vacant spot. She set down her bag and clasped her hands in her lap. "Such kindness isn't shown every day to an old lady like myself," she voiced meekly. "Sweet of you to offer me your seat."

"Yeah, I s'pose I'm a big sweetie," Helga laughed as she reopened her book. Arnold's face flushed.

"What are you reading, dearie?"

Helga slinked her arm back around the pole and she leaned into it. "Her name is Sylvia Plath."

"The poet? My goodness, how old are you?"

"I'll be thirteen in March."

"That's a very impressive reading level for such a young lady!" The woman praised.

Helga rocked on her heels. "Thanks! I almost finished what I could find of her work in the library. You could say I have a thing for confessional poetry."

The old lady shook her head and tutted. "Bright girl, bright girl."

Helga laughed again as she reached over to tug on the yellow cord that lined the bus. "Not so dull yourself," she grinned.

In two seconds the bus had pulled over and Helga was gone. Arnold, still clutching the seat in front of him, was in a state.

 _She gave up her seat._

She had given up her seat.

 _She gave up her seat!_

If there was one sure fire, direct way into Arnold's heart, it was giving up your seat on the bus for an old lady carrying fruit. (It helps if you've already wiggled your way half way through, sneakily, by being curious and cryptically kind, honest and puzzlingly blunt, passionate and mysteriously creative, and beautiful, beyond words.)

 _This is happening, this just happened. I think I'm gonna… I think I might…_

Gerald, who had been sitting next to Arnold during the entire scene, took one look at Arnold's face and reached up to remove his headphones.

"Arnold my man, you are a boooold kid."

 **GEDDIT? LIKE RUTH? 'Cept better. ;)**

 **Review if you think my age has nothing to do with this creative outlet and you think I should continue writing HA! fanfictions.**

 **(I want it to be true.)**

 **-Alex XOXO**


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